U.S.A. SAILORS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18332, 16 March 1925, Page 11

U.S.A. SAILORS.

SYDNEY AND ALCOHOL. (I-kom ouß o*K coßassPosDKrr.) SYDNEY, March 4. Some mild amusement has been caused by the announcement that the Good Templars of New South Wales are trying to get Mr Bruco to promise that the American sailors, when tLey arrive in Australia presently, shall be gtvca no alcoholic liquors. Of course, it .is * exactly what is to be expected of conscientious Good Templars, but one can imagine the sentiments of the personnel of Uncle Sam's fleet if such a decision were conveyed to them. The opportunities for refreshment . provided by Sydney are earnestly availed of "by the great numbers of Americans who visit these shores. But no American behaves hero as if the taste of alcohol were new to him. Their chief comment is, not that they get here something they cannot get in America, but that they get good liquor here at a fair price, instead of shockingly bad smuggled liquor at a high price. The Federal Government is making arrangements to entertain the Amcrieau. naval men in a fitting manner at the different ports, and a period of merry junketing for American sailors and Australian'landsmen is promised. Tho Gov- ' eminent; is not likely to treat tho America lis as if they were children, and seryo I only "soft stuff", at tho Yarioos functions. ".You must not entourage thciii to do something that is contrary to their laws," say tho Good Templars* "If they believe in Prohibition,"there is nothing to compel them to drink alcohol in Australia. It is op to them,'* is virtually the reply of the Govern* ment.

The anti-liquor movement hero today lacks strength and" aggressiveness. The New South Wales Alliance appears to be split by intrigues and underground engineering. Associated with this body are several persons of the meddlesome political type, and their attempts to link up the Alliance 'with the Nationalist Party have undermined the wltoto structure. Ono faction, led by Mr A. Lane, M.L.A., an inconspicuous member of the State Parliament, appears at pro* sent to bo in the ascendant. The Bov. E. B. S. Hammond, who was the strong man of tho Prohibition movement here, a restless, uncompromising iigliter against the liquor Interests, i** resigned from tho presidency of the Alliance; and the Yen. Archdeacon Boyce, who was tho only other prominent man' connected "With .the Alliance, has refused the vacant position. _ The Alliance, at the moment, is drifting; without a captain and buffeted by stones of its own creating. On present appear* ances, Prohibition was never farther away from New South Wales than it is to-day.'